News in brief

'30 die' in Indonesia massacre

AT least 30 civilians, including a three-year-old boy, have been massacred on a palm oil plantation in the separatist Indonesian province of Aceh, doctors said yesterday.

Free Aceh Movement rebels and a human rights group said the military committed the atrocity in retaliation for an attack this week on a military post in which 25 soldiers were killed or wounded.

They said witnesses and a man who survived the shooting reported that the troops lined up the victims and opened fire after they failed to provide information during questioning about the attack. Alex Spillius, South East Asia Correspondent

China reticent as US slashes spy plane bill

CHINA declined to comment yesterday on the Pentagon's offer of $34,576 (£24,000) for the cost of resolving the April 1 spy plane collision for which it had demanded $1 million.

The offer, leaked on the internet, provoked anger among people who thought the sum was compensation for the death of Wang Wei, whose fighter jet collided with the EP-3 spy plane.

China had called on the Pentagon to cover costs ranging from food for the 24 crew during their 11 days in detention to support services for the EP-3 during the three months it was impounded on Hainan island.

The Pentagon spent millions of dollars to dismantle the EP-3 and send it home aboard a charter flight after Beijing refused permission for it to be made airworthy. David Rennie, Beijing

Newspaper in the alphabet soup

A NEWSPAPER in the former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan has been forced to shut after falling foul of a decree making the Roman alphabet official. The printing house used by the Azeri-language Impuls weekly has been ordered not to print it unless it stops publishing in the Russian Cyrillic alphabet.

The newspaper is thought to be the first casualty of the decree, which is designed to reduce the influence of Russia on Azerbaijan's language and culture.

King sues to get castle back

ROMANIA's former king is suing the state for the return of a 160-room castle built by his family in the 19th century.

The suit demands that King Michael, who lives in Switzerland after being forced into exile by the Communists in 1947, should receive either Peles Castle or compensation of £14 million.

Anger at snub to Captain Cook

PROTESTS erupted in Australia yesterday over plans to replace Captain Cook with a dancing dolphin as the municipal symbol for the nation's birthplace.

Civic leaders had secretly planned to remove the explorer's face from the logo of Sutherland Shire council, Sydney - the authority that oversees Botany Bay, where Cook landed in 1770. They claimed Cook's image was outdated and offensive to Aborigines.